High performance surface mount electrical interconnect with external biased normal force loading

ABSTRACT

A surface mount electrical interconnect adapted to provide an interface between solder balls on a BGA device and a PCB. A socket substrate is provided with a first surface, a second surface, and a plurality of openings sized and configured to receive the solder balls on the BGA device. A plurality of electrically conductive contact tabs are attached to the socket substrate so that contact tips on the contact tabs extend into the openings. The contact tips electrically couple with the BGA device when the solder balls are positioned in the openings. Vias electrically couple the contact tabs to contact pads located proximate the second surface of the socket substrate. Solder balls are bonded to the contact pads to electrically and mechanically couple the electrical interconnect to the PCB.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/452,875, filed Mar. 15, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/266,573, titled COMPLIANT PRINTED CIRCUIT AREA ARRAY SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE PACKAGE, filed Oct. 27, 2011, which is a national stage application under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/US2010/036363, titled COMPLIANT PRINTED CIRCUIT AREA ARRAY SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE PACKAGE, filed May 27, 2010, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/183,411, filed Jun. 2, 2009, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/320,285, titled COMPLIANT PRINTED FLEXIBLE CIRCUIT, filed Nov. 14, 2011, which is a national stage application under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/US2010/036282, titled COMPLIANT PRINTED FLEXIBLE CIRCUIT, filed May 27, 2010, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/183,340, filed Jun. 2, 2009, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of International Application No. PCT/US2011/038845, titled Electrical Connector Insulator Housing, filed Jun. 2, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/351,114, entitled Electrical Connector Insulator Housing, filed Jun. 3, 2010, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of International Application No. PCT/US2011/062313, titled HIGH PERFORMANCE SURFACE MOUNT ELECTRICAL INTERCONNECT, filed Nov. 29, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/418,625, filed Dec. 1, 2010, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of International Application No. PCT/US2011/0633247, titled ELECTRICAL INTERCONNECT IC DEVICE SOCKET, filed Dec. 6, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/420,043, filed Dec. 6, 2010, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a high performance electrical interconnect between a BGA device and a printed circuit board. The present disclosure also discloses the use of unique fabrication techniques that merge processes used in the printed circuit and semiconductor packaging industries with the flexibility of additive printing technology to make the present surface mount electrical interconnect.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Traditional IC sockets are generally constructed of an injection molded plastic insulator housing that includes stamped and formed copper alloy contact members stitched or inserted into recesses. The assembled IC socket is then generally processed through a reflow oven to attach solder balls to the contact members. During final assembly the contact pads on the printed circuit board (“PCB”) are printed with solder paste or flux and the solder balls on the IC socket are placed in registration with the contact pads. The assembly is then reflowed and the solder balls essentially weld the IC socket to the PCB.

During use IC socket receives an IC device, such as a packaged integrated circuits. The contact members electrically couple the terminals on the IC device with the corresponding terminal on the PCB. The terminals on the IC device are typically held against the contact members by applying a load, which is expected to maintain intimate contact and reliable circuit connection throughout the life of the system without a permanent connection. As a result, the IC device can be removed or replaced without the need for reflowing solder connections.

These types of IC sockets and interconnects have been produced in high volume for many years. As IC devices advance to next generation architectures traditional IC sockets have reached mechanical and electrical limitations that require alternate methods. For example, increased terminal count, reduction in the distance between the contacts known as terminal pitch, and signal integrity have been the main drivers that impact the IC socket design. As terminal counts go up, the IC package essentially gets larger due to the additional space needed for the terminals. As the package grows larger, costs go up and the relative flatness of the package and corresponding PCB require compliance between the contact members in the IC socket and the terminal pad to accommodate the topography differences and maintain reliable connection.

As the terminal pitch is decreased the thickness of the insulating walls in the IC socket housing is also decreased. The length of the contact members is frequently increased to optimize the spring properties. Longer contact members also tend to reduce signal integrity and increase contact resistance due to self-heating of power delivering contacts. The thinner insulating walls increase the difficulty of molding and increase latent stresses in the IC socket housing, increasing the risk of warpage during solder reflow. The thinner insulating walls also increase the risk of cross-talk between adjacent contact members.

Traditional IC sockets have reached an electrical performance limit. Next generation IC devices will operate above 5 GHz and beyond and the existing IC sockets do not provide acceptable performance levels without significant revision.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure is directed to a high performance electrical interconnect that will enable next generation electrical performance. The present solution mimics the mechanical details of a simple beam structure made of traditional materials, and removes the normal retention features which add parasitic mass and distort or degrade the integrity of the signal as it passes through the contact. This approach provides a reliable connection to BGA devices and creates a platform to add electrical and mechanical enhancements to the socket substrate or assembly to address the challenges of next generation interconnect requirements.

This disclosure describes a family of surface mount technology sockets for BGA devices. In basic terms, the present interconnect enables a user to directly socket a BGA device without reflow to the PCB. In many cases, there is a desire to have the BGA device removable and replaceable without the need for rework or reflow of the solder balls. The present interconnect is soldered to the PCB, and the upper contact structures are shaped to accept the ball on the BGA device in a manner that retains the device, but allows the device to be lifted out.

The challenge with this type of product is to create an interface between the solder ball on the device and the contact tips such that the device can be inserted with low enough force to enable insertion by hand, while still providing stable contact resistance and reliable connection. Related to this challenge is the extraction force relative to insertion force such that the device can be easily removed by hand or with the aid of a tool without breaking solder joints between the contact and the PCB as well as the joint from the device to the solder ball on the package.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure uses the basic building blocks of a known contact beam structure and a known plastic insulator housing and enhances them to provide mechanical and electrical advantages. End users typically want to rely on proven metallic contact structures that provide reliable flexural properties. This disclosure includes embodiments that mimic the mechanical details of a simple beam structure made of traditional materials, and removes the normal retention features which add parasitic mass and distort or degrade the integrity of the signal as it passes through the contact. This method provides a reliable connection to the package terminals and creates a platform to add electrical and mechanical enhancements to the socket substrate or assembly to address the challenges of next generation interconnect requirements.

Contact retention features are not required, greatly reducing the complexity of the component and the tooling required to produce them. The substrate containing the contact members is inverted to expose the terminal which will connect to the printed circuit board during final assembly. This surface of the substrate and exposed contact members can be treated as a field of connection points for further enhancement that provides contact retention, adds circuit features not normally embedded within a socket, adds mechanical features to improve the reliability of the solder joint to the PCA, and provides a platform to add passive and active circuit features to improve electrical performance or internal function and intelligence.

The present disclosure merges the long-term performance advantages of traditional PCB and semiconductor packaging with the flexibility of additive printing technology. By combining methods used in the PCB fabrication and semiconductor packaging industries, the present disclosure enables fine line high density circuit structures with attractive cost of manufacture.

The present high performance electrical interconnect can be treated as a system of its own by incorporating electrical devices or other passive and active function, such as for example, ground planes, power planes, electrical connections to other circuit members, dielectric layers, conductive traces, transistors, capacitors, resistors, RF antennae, shielding, filters, signal or power altering and enhancing devices, memory devices, embedded IC, and the like. In some embodiments, the electrical devices can be formed using printing technology, adding intelligence to the interconnect assembly.

The present high performance electrical interconnect can be produced digitally, without tooling or costly artwork. The high performance electrical interconnect can be produced as a “Green” product, with dramatic reductions in environmental issues related to the production of conventional flexible circuits.

The vias and associated circuit geometry can be printed in a variety of shapes and sizes, depending on the terminal structure on the circuit members. The contact members and vias can be positioned at a variety of locations, heights, or spacing to match the parameters of existing connections.

The use of additive printing processes permits the material set in a given layer to vary. Traditional PCB and flex circuit fabrication methods take sheets of material and stack them up, laminate, and/or drill. The materials in each layer are limited to the materials in a particular sheet. Additive printing technologies permit a wide variety of materials to be applied on a layer with a registration relative to the features of the previous layer. Selective addition of conductive, non-conductive, or semi-conductive materials at precise locations to create a desired effect has the major advantages in tuning impedance or adding electrical function on a given layer. Tuning performance on a layer by layer basis relative to the previous layer greatly enhances electrical performance.

The circuit geometry preferably has conductive traces that have substantially rectangular cross-sectional shapes, corresponding to the recesses. The use of additive printing processes permits conductive material, non-conductive material, and semi-conductive material to be located on a single layer.

In one embodiment, pre-formed conductive trace materials are located in the recesses. The recesses are than plated to form conductive traces with substantially rectangular cross-sectional shapes. In another embodiment, a conductive foil is pressed into at least a portion of the recesses. The conductive foil is sheared along edges of the recesses. The excess conductive foil not located in the recesses is removed and the recesses are plated to form conductive traces with substantially rectangular cross-sectional shapes.

At least one electrical device is optionally printed on a dielectric layer and electrically coupled to at least a portion of the circuit geometry. Optical quality materials can be printed or deposited in at least a portion of the recesses to form optical circuit geometries. Alternatively, optical fibers can be located in the recesses.

The printing process permits the fabrication of functional structures, such as conductive paths and electrical devices, without the use of masks or resists. Features down to about 10 microns can be directly written in a wide variety of functional inks, including metals, ceramics, polymers and adhesives, on virtually any substrate—silicon, glass, polymers, metals and ceramics. The substrates can be planar and non-planar surfaces. The printing process is typically followed by a thermal treatment, such as in a furnace or with a laser, to achieve dense functionalized structures.

The present disclosure is directed to a surface mount electrical interconnect adapted to provide an interface between solder balls on a BGA device and a PCB. A socket substrate is provided with a first surface, a second surface, and a plurality of openings sized and configured to receive the solder balls on the BGA device. A plurality of electrically conductive contact tabs are attached to the socket substrate so that contact tips on the contact tabs extend into the openings. The contact tips electrically couple with the BGA device when the solder balls are positioned in the openings. Vias electrically couple the contact tabs to contact pads located proximate the second surface of the socket substrate. Solder balls are bonded to the contact pads to electrically and mechanically couple the electrical interconnect to the PCB.

In one embodiment, the vias include conductive plating extending along surfaces of the openings. In another embodiment, the vias are discrete structures separate from the openings. At least one additional circuitry plane is preferably added to the socket substrate. The additional circuitry plane is selected from one of a ground plane, a power plane, an electrical connection to other circuit members, a dielectric layer, or a flexible circuit. In another embodiment, the contact tabs are part of discrete contact members located in the openings of the socket substrate. The openings are preferably configured to permit the contact members to flex to facilitate inserting the solder balls on the BGA device into the openings. The contact tabs preferably include spring arms adapted to flex outward during insertion of the solder balls on the BGA device into the openings.

The present disclosure also relates to an electrical interconnect assembly including a housing that retains the present electrical interconnect. A BGA device with solder balls is located in the openings in the socket substrate and electrically coupled to the contact tips of the contact tabs. A PCB is soldered to the contact pads located at the second surface of the socket substrate.

The present disclosure is also directed to a method of making a surface mount electrical interconnect adapted to provide an interface between solder balls on a BGA device and a PCB. The method includes forming a socket substrate with a first surface, a second surface, and a plurality of openings sized and configured to receive the solder balls on the BGA device. A plurality of electrically conductive contact tabs are secured to the socket substrate so that at least one contact tip of the contact tabs extends into the openings. The contact tips electrically couple the BGA device when the solder balls are positioned in the openings. Vias in the socket substrate electrically couple the contact tabs to contact pads located proximate the second surface of the socket substrate. Solder balls attached to the contact pad electrically and mechanically couple the electrical interconnect to the PCB.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a surface mount electrical interconnect in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an alternate surface mount electrical interconnect with supported contact tabs in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an alternate surface mount electrical interconnect with polymeric retention tabs in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an electrical interconnect with on-board electrical devices in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternate electrical interconnect with on-board electrical devices in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an electrical interconnect with capacitive coupling in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of an electrical interconnect in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of an alternate electrical interconnect with printed compliant material in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates an electrical interconnect with optical features in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates an alternate high performance electrical interconnect with optical features in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates an alternate high performance electrical interconnect with printed vias in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates an alternate high performance electrical interconnect with printed electrical devices in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A high performance electrical interconnect according to the present disclosure may permit fine contact-to-contact spacing (pitch) on the order of less than 1.0 mm pitch, and more preferably a pitch of less than about 0.7 millimeter, and most preferably a pitch of less than about 0.4 millimeter. Such fine pitch high performance electrical interconnects are especially useful for communications, wireless, and memory devices.

The present high performance electrical interconnect can be configured as a low cost, high signal performance interconnect assembly, which has a low profile that is particularly useful for desktop and mobile PC applications. IC devices can be installed and uninstalled without the need to reflow solder. The solder-free electrical connection of the IC devices is environmentally friendly.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are top and cross-sectional views of a surface mount electrical interconnect 50 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Socket substrate 52 includes openings 54 sized to receive solder balls 56 on integrated circuit device 58. Copper contact pads 60 are located at the base of the socket substrate 52. The contact pads 60 typically include solder balls 67 that can be reflowed to electrically and mechanically couples the electrical interconnect 50 to PCB 66. In the illustrated embodiment, the socket substrate 52 is a multi-layered structure. As will be discussed below, a multilayered substrate permits additional circuit planes to be added.

Contact tabs 62 are located on the top surface of the socket substrate 52 and vias 64 electrically connecting the contact pads 60 to the contact tabs 62. The contact tabs 62 are preferably an etched or stamped foil of copper or copper alloy that is transferred to the socket substrate 52 using known techniques. In the illustrated embodiment, the contact tabs 62 is constructed from ½ oz copper or copper alloy foil (0.7 mil thick).

The illustrated contact tabs 62 include two contact tips 65 that extend into the recess 54 and mimic points around the solder balls 56 spherical circumferences. Dielectric layer 68 is applied to the top and bottom of the socket substrate 52 so the contact tips 65 are exposed. The dielectric layer 68 also helps secure the contact tabs 62 to the substrate 52.

After insertion of BGA device 58, the contact tips 65 engage with solder balls 56 near the upper radius 70 proximate the interface to the BGA device 58. The resulting electrical interconnect 50 creates a very short physical height with good electrical performance and an assembly process that does not require the insertion of individual contacts.

In one embodiment, the BGA device 58 is inserted with no force, and the package or device is biased or shifted in direction 72 such that the contact tabs 62 engages the solder balls 56 to create the electrical connection. An external loading mechanism such as spring members or a mechanical biasing mechanism can be incorporated into the housing structure to apply the load the BGA device 58 and cause the shift in the direction 72. The loading mechanism can be released to allow the BGA device 58 to be removed if desired without the need to reflow the solder ball. This external loading mechanism can also serve to supplement the compliance needed to accommodate tolerance and location variations between the BGA device 58, the solder balls 56, and the contact tabs 62. In one embodiment, the BGA device 58 is biased in direction 72 to facilitate electrical coupling with curved surface 74 of the contact tabs 62.

The electrical interconnect 50 enables users to directly socket the BGA device 58 without reflow to the PCB 66. In many cases, there is a desire to have the BGA device 58 removable and replaceable without the need for rework or reflow of the solder balls 56. The electrical interconnect 50 is soldered to the PCB 66, and the upper contact structures 62 are shaped to accept the solder balls 56 on the BGA device 58 in a manner that retains the device 58, but allows the device to be lifted out.

One challenge with this type of electrical interconnect 50 is to create an interface between the solder balls 56 on the BGA device 58 and the contact tips 65 such that the BGA device 58 can be inserted with low enough force to enable insertion by hand, while still providing stable contact resistance and reliable connection. Related to this challenge is the extraction force relative to insertion force such that the BGA device 58 can be easily removed by hand or with the aid of a tool without breaking solder joints 67 between the contact pads 60 and the PCB 66, as well as the joint from the BGA device 58 to the solder balls 56 on the package.

The present embodiment leverage a technique which treats the socket substrate 52 as if it were a printed circuit board. A 3D structure is created that takes advantage of the normal “core” area within a traditional printed circuit board, which is normally not utilized as circuit area and primarily serves as a mechanical support member for the fashioned circuitry. The dielectric core 52 is processed to provide a recess 54 for the solder ball 56 on a semiconductor BGA device 58 to reside within after insertion into the socket 50. Etched or stamped layers of copper or copper alloy 62 are located on the substrate 52 so the contact points 65 are located to protrude into the core cavity 54 in precise desired locations that mimic points around the solder ball 56 spherical circumference.

In alternate embodiments, a polymer layer with features designed to engage with the solder balls 56 after insertion can be added to assist with device retention, while in other embodiments an external retention mechanism can be used to hold the BGA device 58 into the socket 50 and maintain reliable electrical interconnection.

The present designs leverage a technique which treats the socket substrate 52 as if it were a printed circuit board. The core area within a traditional printed circuit board is normally not utilized as circuit area and primarily serves as a mechanical support member for the fashioned circuitry. In the present electrical interconnect 50, however, the dielectric core is processed to provide recesses 54 for the solder ball 56 on a BGA package 58 to reside within after insertion into the electrical interconnect 50.

While the present electrical interconnect 50 permits the BGA device 58 to be removed without solder reflow, in another embodiment, the device solder balls 56 can also be reflowed and welded to the contact tips 65 to provide a permanent connection. For example, the BGA device 58 may be tested prior to reflowing the solder balls 56. Once the testing is successfully completed, the solder balls 56 can be reflowed to permanently attached the BGA device 58.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional views of an alternate surface mount electrical interconnect 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Via 64 illustrated in FIG. 1B is eliminated as the connection means and the inner walls 102 of the core cavity 104 are plated 106 to join the upper contact tabs 108 and the lower solder pad 110.

In one embodiment, top surface mask 124 is replaced with a film, such as a 1 mil polyimide or LCP film. The film is optionally configured with tabs that extend into the openings 104 to assist with centering solder balls 126 on the BGA device 128 within the openings 104, as well as aid with retention.

In an alternate embodiment, bottom surface 112 of the recess 114 is plated 116. Via 118 is formed in layer 120 of the substrate 122 as the electrical connection between the lower solder pad 110 and the plating 116 and contact tabs 108.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are top and side views of an alternate surface mount electrical interconnect 150 that incorporates a discrete contact member 152 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The contact member 152 can be formed using a variety of techniques, such as stamping or forming, and can be a variety of shapes. The formed contact members 152 are inserted discretely into openings 178 and further processed to create lower solder pad 154 for solder ball 180.

The illustrated contact member 152 includes lower solder pad 154 positioned to extend along lower surface 156 of the substrate 158. Recess 160 is sized to leave space 162 to permit contact tabs 164 of the contact member 152 to flex in direction 166 during insertion of the BGA device 168. Center portion 170 of the contact member 152 provides the compliance to engage solder ball 172. The embodiment of FIG. 3B preferably does not use an external biasing system to secure the BGA device 168. As best illustrated in FIG. 3A, the contact tabs 164 include a pair of contact points 174 and a curved edge 176 optimized to engage with solder ball 172.

FIG. 4 illustrates electrical interconnect 220 with electrical devices 222, such as for example, internal decoupling capacitors, located on substrate 224 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Printed conductive traces 226 electrically couple the electrical devices 222 to one or more of the contact pads 228. The electrical devices 222 can be added as discrete components or printed materials, reducing the need for discrete components on the PCB 232 and the integrated circuit device 230. Locating the electrical devices 222 in the semiconductor socket 220 permits integrated circuit manufactures to reduce or eliminate the capacitors currently located on the package 230 and printed circuit board 232. This shift can greatly reduce cost and simplify the package 230 and printed circuit board 232, while improving performance.

The electrical devices 222 can be a power plane, ground plane, capacitor, resistor, filters, signal or power altering and enhancing device, memory device, embedded IC, RF antennae, and the like. The electrical devices 222 can be located on either surface of the substrate 224, or embedded therein. The electrical devices 222 can include passive or active functional elements. Passive structure refers to a structure having a desired electrical, magnetic, or other property, including but not limited to a conductor, resistor, capacitor, inductor, insulator, dielectric, suppressor, filter, varistor, ferromagnet, and the like.

Locating such electrical devices 222 on the electrical interconnect 220 improves performance and enables a reduction in the cost of integrated circuit devices and the PCB 232. Integrated circuit manufactures are limited by the pitch that the PCB 232 can accommodate and still keep the printed circuit board to four layers. The integrated circuit makers can manufacture the integrated circuit device 230 with a smaller pitch, but with the pin counts is so high that the printed circuit board 232 likely requires additional layers in order to route all of the signals. The present electrical interconnect 220 also permits integrated circuit manufactures to reduce the pitch of the contacts on the IC device 230, and perform any required signal routing in the electrical interconnect 220, rather than in the printed circuit board 232 or by adding daughter boards to the system.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternate electrical interconnect 240 with on-board electrical devices 242 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The decoupling capacitance 242 can be a discrete embedded or printed electrical device. Contact member 244 provides the electrical connection to the capacitor located on the semiconductor device 246 and solder ball 248 provides the electrical connection to the capacitor located on printed circuit board 250.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of electrical interconnect 270 with various capacitive coupling features in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure. A capacitive coupling feature 272A is embedded in layer 274 of the substrate 275. A capacitive coupling feature 272B is located on second surface 276 of the layer 274. The capacitive coupling features 272A, 272B are positioned to electrically couple with contact pad 278 on integrated circuit device 280. The capacitive coupling 272C is embedded in layer 288.

Capacitive coupling feature 282A is embedded in layer 284 of the substrate 275. Capacitive coupling feature 282B is located on first surface 286 of the layer 284. The capacitive coupling feature 282A is positioned to electrically couple with contact pad 290 on the PCB 292. The various capacitive coupling features in the embodiment of FIG. 6 are optionally formed using inkjet printing technology, aerosol printing technology, or other printing technology.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternate electrical interconnect 430 with an insulating layer 432 applied to the circuit geometry 434. The nature of the printing process allows for selective application of dielectric layer 432 to leave selected portions 436 of the circuit geometry 434 expose if desired. The resulting high performance electrical interconnect 430 can potentially be considered entirely “green” with limited or no chemistry used to produce beyond the direct write materials.

The dielectric layers of the present disclosure may be constructed of any of a number of dielectric materials that are currently used to make sockets, semiconductor packaging, and printed circuit boards. Examples may include UV stabilized tetrafunctional epoxy resin systems referred to as Flame Retardant 4 (FR-4); bismaleimide-triazine thermoset epoxy resins referred to as BT-Epoxy or BT Resin; and liquid crystal polymers (LCPs), which are polyester polymers that are extremely unreactive, inert and resistant to fire. Other suitable plastics include phenolics, polyesters, and Ryton® available from Phillips Petroleum Company.

In one embodiment, one or more of the dielectric materials are designed to provide electrostatic dissipation or to reduce cross-talk between the traces of the circuit geometry. An efficient way to prevent electrostatic discharge (“ESD”) is to construct one of the layers from materials that are not too conductive but that will slowly conduct static charges away. These materials preferably have resistivity values in the range of 10⁵ to 10¹¹ Ohm-meters.

FIG. 8 illustrates an alternate high performance electrical interconnect 450 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Dielectric layer 452 includes openings 454 into which compliant material 456 is printed before formation of circuit geometry 458. The compliant printed material 456 improves reliability during flexure of the electrical interconnect 450.

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternate high performance electrical interconnect 460 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Optical fibers 462 are located between layers 464, 466 of dielectric material. In one embodiment, optical fibers 462 are positioned over printed compliant layer 468, and dielectric layer 470 is printed over and around the optical fibers 462. A compliant layer 472 is preferably printed above the optical fiber 462 as well. The compliant layers 468, 472 support the optical fibers 462 during flexure. In another embodiment, the dielectric layer 470 is formed or printed with recesses into which the optical fibers 462 are deposited.

In another embodiment, optical quality materials 474 are printed during printing of the high performance electrical interconnect 460. The optical quality material 474 and/or the optical fibers 462 comprise optical circuit geometries. The printing process allows for deposition of coatings in-situ that enhances the optical transmission or reduces loss. The precision of the printing process reduces misalignment issues when the optical materials 474 are optically coupled with another optical structure.

FIG. 10 illustrates another embodiment of a present high performance electrical interconnect 480 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Embedded coaxial RF circuits 482 or printed micro strip RF circuits 484 are located with dielectric/metal layers 486. These RF circuits 482, 484 are preferably created by printing dielectrics and metallization geometry.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, use of additive processes allows the creation of a high performance electrical interconnect 490 with inter-circuit, 3D lattice structures 492 having intricate routing schemes. Vias 494 can be printed with each layer, without drilling.

The nature of the printing process permit controlled application of dielectric layers 496 creates recesses 498 that control the location, cross section, material content, and aspect ratio of the conductive traces 492 and the vias 494. Maintaining the conductive traces 492 and vias 494 with a cross-section of 1:1 or greater provides greater signal integrity than traditional subtractive trace forming technologies. For example, traditional methods take a sheet of a given thickness and etches the material between the traces away to have a resultant trace that is usually wider than it is thick. The etching process also removes more material at the top surface of the trace than at the bottom, leaving a trace with a trapezoidal cross-sectional shape, degrading signal integrity in some applications. Using the recesses 498 to control the aspect ratio of the conductive traces 492 and the vias 494 results in a more rectangular or square cross-section, with the corresponding improvement in signal integrity.

In another embodiment, pre-patterned or pre-etched thin conductive foil circuit traces are transferred to the recesses 498. For example, a pressure sensitive adhesive can be used to retain the copper foil circuit traces in the recesses 498. The trapezoidal cross-sections of the pre-formed conductive foil traces are then post-plated. The plating material fills the open spaces in the recesses 498 not occupied by the foil circuit geometry, resulting in a substantially rectangular or square cross-sectional shape corresponding to the shape of the recesses 498.

In another embodiment, a thin conductive foil is pressed into the recesses 198, and the edges of the recesses 498 acts to cut or shear the conductive foil. The process locates a portion of the conductive foil in the recesses 498, but leaves the negative pattern of the conductive foil not wanted outside and above the recesses 498 for easy removal. Again, the foil in the recesses 498 is preferably post plated to add material to increase the thickness of the conductive traces 492 in the circuit geometry and to fill any voids left between the conductive foil and the recesses 498.

FIG. 12 illustrates a high performance electrical interconnect 500 with printed electrical devices 502. The electrical devices 502 can include passive or active functional elements. Passive structure refers to a structure having a desired electrical, magnetic, or other property, including but not limited to a conductor, resistor, capacitor, inductor, insulator, dielectric, suppressor, filter, varistor, ferromagnet, and the like. In the illustrated embodiment, electrical devices 502 include printed LED indicator 504 and display electronics 506. Geometries can also be printed to provide capacitive coupling 508. Compliant material can be added between circuit geometry, such as discussed above, so the present electrical interconnect can be plugged into a receptacle or socket, supplementing or replacing the need for compliance within the connector.

The electrical devices 502 are preferably printed during construction of the interconnect assembly 500. The electrical devices 502 can be ground planes, power planes, electrical connections to other circuit members, dielectric layers, conductive traces, transistors, capacitors, resistors, RF antennae, shielding, filters, signal or power altering and enhancing devices, memory devices, embedded IC, and the like. For example, the electrical devices 502 can be formed using printing technology, adding intelligence to the high performance electrical interconnect 500. Features that are typically located on other circuit members can be incorporated into the interconnect 500 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The availability of printable silicon inks provides the ability to print electrical devices 502, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,485,345 (Renn et al.); 7,382,363 (Albert et al.); 7,148,128 (Jacobson); 6,967,640 (Albert et al.); 6,825,829 (Albert et al.); 6,750,473 (Amundson et al.); 6,652,075 (Jacobson); 6,639,578 (Comiskey et al.); 6,545,291 (Amundson et al.); 6,521,489 (Duthaler et al.); 6,459,418 (Comiskey et al.); 6,422,687 (Jacobson); 6,413,790 (Duthaler et al.); 6,312,971 (Amundson et al.); 6,252,564 (Albert et al.); 6,177,921 (Comiskey et al.); 6,120,588 (Jacobson); 6,118,426 (Albert et al.); and U.S. Pat. Publication No. 2008/0008822 (Kowalski et al.), which are hereby incorporated by reference. In particular, U.S. Patent Nos. 6,506,438 (Duthaler et al.) and 6,750,473 (Amundson et al.), which are incorporated by reference, teach using ink-jet printing to make various electrical devices, such as, resistors, capacitors, diodes, inductors (or elements which may be used in radio applications or magnetic or electric field transmission of power or data), semiconductor logic elements, electro-optical elements, transistor (including, light emitting, light sensing or solar cell elements, field effect transistor, top gate structures), and the like.

The electrical devices 502 can also be created by aerosol printing, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,674,671 (Renn et al.); 7,658,163 (Renn et al.); 7,485,345 (Renn et al.); 7,045,015 (Renn et al.); and 6,823,124 (Renn et al.), which are hereby incorporated by reference.

Printing processes are preferably used to fabricate various functional structures, such as conductive paths and electrical devices, without the use of masks or resists. Features down to about 10 microns can be directly written in a wide variety of functional inks, including metals, ceramics, polymers and adhesives, on virtually any substrate—silicon, glass, polymers, metals and ceramics. The substrates can be planar and non-planar surfaces. The printing process is typically followed by a thermal treatment, such as in a furnace or with a laser, to achieve dense functionalized structures.

Ink jet printing of electronically active inks can be done on a large class of substrates, without the requirements of standard vacuum processing or etching. The inks may incorporate mechanical, electrical or other properties, such as, conducting, insulating, resistive, magnetic, semi conductive, light modulating, piezoelectric, spin, optoelectronic, thermoelectric or radio frequency.

A plurality of ink drops are dispensed from the print head directly to a substrate or on an intermediate transfer member. The transfer member can be a planar or non-planar structure, such as a drum. The surface of the transfer member can be coated with a non-sticking layer, such as silicone, silicone rubber, or Teflon.

The ink (also referred to as function inks) can include conductive materials, semi-conductive materials (e.g., p-type and n-type semiconducting materials), metallic material, insulating materials, and/or release materials. The ink pattern can be deposited in precise locations on a substrate to create fine lines having a width smaller than 10 microns, with precisely controlled spaces between the lines. For example, the ink drops form an ink pattern corresponding to portions of a transistor, such as a source electrode, a drain electrode, a dielectric layer, a semiconductor layer, or a gate electrode.

The substrate can be an insulating polymer, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyester, polyethersulphone (PES), polyimide film (e.g. Kapton, available from DuPont located in Wilmington, Del.; Upilex available from Ube Corporation located in Japan), or polycarbonate. Alternatively, the substrate can be made of an insulator such as undoped silicon, glass, or a plastic material. The substrate can also be patterned to serve as an electrode. The substrate can further be a metal foil insulated from the gate electrode by a non-conducting material. The substrate can also be a woven material or paper, planarized or otherwise modified on at least one surface by a polymeric or other coating to accept the other structures.

Electrodes can be printed with metals, such as aluminum or gold, or conductive polymers, such as polythiophene or polyaniline. The electrodes may also include a printed conductor, such as a polymer film comprising metal particles, such as silver or nickel, a printed conductor comprising a polymer film containing graphite or some other conductive carbon material, or a conductive oxide such as tin oxide or indium tin oxide.

Dielectric layers can be printed with a silicon dioxide layer, an insulating polymer, such as polyimide and its derivatives, poly-vinyl phenol, polymethylmethacrylate, polyvinyldenedifluoride, an inorganic oxide, such as metal oxide, an inorganic nitride such as silicon nitride, or an inorganic/organic composite material such as an organic-substituted silicon oxide, or a sol-gel organosilicon glass. Dielectric layers can also include a bicylcobutene derivative (BCB) available from Dow Chemical (Midland, Mich.), spin-on glass, or dispersions of dielectric colloid materials in a binder or solvent.

Semiconductor layers can be printed with polymeric semiconductors, such as, polythiophene, poly(3-alkyl)thiophenes, alkyl-substituted oligothiophene, polythienylenevinylene, poly(para-phenylenevinylene) and doped versions of these polymers. An example of suitable oligomeric semiconductor is alpha-hexathienylene. Horowitz, Organic Field-Effect Transistors, Adv. Mater., 10, No. 5, p. 365 (1998) describes the use of unsubstituted and alkyl-substituted oligothiophenes in transistors. A field effect transistor made with regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) as the semiconductor layer is described in Bao et al., Soluble and Processable Regioregular Poly(3-hexylthiophene) for Thin Film Field-Effect Transistor Applications with High Mobility, Appl. Phys. Lett. 69 (26), p. 4108 (December 1996). A field effect transistor made with a-hexathienylene is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,181, which is incorporated herein by reference.

A protective layer can optionally be printed onto the electrical devices. The protective layer can be an aluminum film, a metal oxide coating, a polymeric film, or a combination thereof.

Organic semiconductors can be printed using suitable carbon-based compounds, such as, pentacene, phthalocyanine, benzodithiophene, buckminsterfullerene or other fullerene derivatives, tetracyanonaphthoquinone, and tetrakisimethylanimoethylene. The materials provided above for forming the substrate, the dielectric layer, the electrodes, or the semiconductor layers are exemplary only. Other suitable materials known to those skilled in the art having properties similar to those described above can be used in accordance with the present disclosure.

The ink-jet print head preferably includes a plurality of orifices for dispensing one or more fluids onto a desired media, such as for example, a conducting fluid solution, a semiconducting fluid solution, an insulating fluid solution, and a precursor material to facilitate subsequent deposition. The precursor material can be surface active agents, such as octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS).

Alternatively, a separate print head is used for each fluid solution. The print head nozzles can be held at different potentials to aid in atomization and imparting a charge to the droplets, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,128 (Jacobson), which is hereby incorporated by reference. Alternate print heads are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,626,526 (Ueki et al.), and U.S. Pat. Publication Nos. 2006/0044357 (Andersen et al.) and 2009/0061089 (King et al.), which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The print head preferably uses a pulse-on-demand method, and can employ one of the following methods to dispense the ink drops: piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, electromechanical, electro pneumatic, electrostatic, rapid ink heating, magneto hydrodynamic, or any other technique well known to those skilled in the art. The deposited ink patterns typically undergo a curing step or another processing step before subsequent layers are applied.

While ink jet printing is preferred, the term “printing” is intended to include all forms of printing and coating, including: pre-metered coating such as patch die coating, slot or extrusion coating, slide or cascade coating, and curtain coating; roll coating such as knife over roll coating, forward and reverse roll coating; gravure coating; dip coating; spray coating; meniscus coating; spin coating; brush coating; air knife coating; screen printing processes; electrostatic printing processes; thermal printing processes; and other similar techniques.

Where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed within the embodiments of the disclosure. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges which may independently be included in the smaller ranges is also encompassed within the embodiments of the disclosure, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either both of those included limits are also included in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments of the present disclosure belong. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can also be used in the practice or testing of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the preferred methods and materials are now described. All patents and publications mentioned herein, including those cited in the Background of the application, are hereby incorporated by reference to disclose and described the methods and/or materials in connection with which the publications are cited.

The publications discussed herein are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present application. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the present disclosure is not entitled to antedate such publication by virtue of prior invention. Further, the dates of publication provided may be different from the actual publication dates which may need to be independently confirmed.

Other embodiments of the disclosure are possible. Although the description above contains much specificity, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure, but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this disclosure. It is also contemplated that various combinations or sub-combinations of the specific features and aspects of the embodiments may be made and still fall within the scope of the present disclosure. It should be understood that various features and aspects of the disclosed embodiments can be combined with or substituted for one another in order to form varying modes of the disclosed embodiments of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the scope of the present disclosure herein disclosed should not be limited by the particular disclosed embodiments described above.

Thus the scope of this disclosure should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the present disclosure fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art, and that the scope of the present disclosure is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, in which reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of the above-described preferred embodiment(s) that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present disclosure, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. 

1. A surface mount electrical interconnect adapted to provide an interface between solder balls on a BGA device and a PCB, the electrical interconnect comprising: a socket substrate comprising a first surface, a second surface, and a plurality of openings sized and configured to receive the solder balls on the BGA device; a plurality of electrically conductive contact tabs attached to the socket substrate so that contact tips on the contact tabs extend into the openings, the contact tips electrically coupling with the BGA device when the solder balls are positioned in the openings; vias electrically coupling the contact tabs to contact pads located proximate the second surface of the socket substrate; and solder balls bonded to the contact pads that are adapted to electrically and mechanically couple the electrical interconnect to the PCB.
 2. The electrical interconnect of claim 1 comprising at least one dielectric layer printed on the first surface of the socket substrate mechanically supporting the contact tabs.
 3. The electrical interconnect of claim 1 wherein the vias comprise conductive plating extending along surfaces of the openings.
 4. The electrical interconnect of claim 1 wherein the vias comprise discrete structures separate from the openings.
 5. The electrical interconnect of claim 1 comprising at least one additional circuitry plane in the socket substrate, the additional circuitry plane selected from one of a ground plane, a power plane, an electrical connection to other circuit members, a dielectric layer, or a flexible circuit.
 6. The electrical interconnect of claim 1 comprising a plurality of conductive contact tabs electrically and mechanically coupled to the vias and extending into the openings in a spaced configuration.
 7. The electrical interconnect of claim 1 wherein the contact tabs comprise a discrete contact members located in a plurality of the openings in the socket substrate.
 8. The electrical interconnect of claim 7 wherein the openings are configured to permit the contact members to flex to facilitate inserting the solder balls on the BGA device into the openings.
 9. The electrical interconnect of claim 1 wherein the contact tabs comprises a spring arm adapted to flex outward during insertion of the solder balls on the BGA device into the openings.
 10. The electrical interconnect of claim 1 comprising at least one printed electrical device located on the socket substrate and electrically coupled to at least a one of the contact tabs, wherein the electrical device is selected from one of shielding, near device decoupling, capacitors, transistors, resistors, filters, signal or power altering and enhancing devices, memory devices, embedded IC devices, RF antennae, and the like.
 11. The electrical interconnect of claim 1 comprising: at least one dielectric layer printed on one of the first or second surfaces of the socket substrate, the dielectric layer comprising a plurality recesses; and an optical quality material deposited in recesses.
 12. An electrical interconnect assembly comprising: a housing that retains the electrical interconnect of claim 1; a BGA device with solder balls located in the openings in the socket substrate and electrically coupled to the contact tips of the contact tabs; and a PCB soldered to the contact pads located at the second surface of the socket substrate.
 13. A method of making a surface mount electrical interconnect adapted to provide an interface between solder balls on a BGA device and a PCB, the method comprising the steps of: forming a socket substrate with a first surface, a second surface, and a plurality of openings sized and configured to receive the solder balls on the BGA device; securing a plurality of electrically conductive contact tabs to the socket substrate so that at least one contact tip of the contact tabs extends into the openings, the contact tips electrically coupling with the BGA device when the solder balls are positioned in the openings; forming vias in the socket substrate that electrically couple the contact tabs to contact pads located proximate the second surface of the socket substrate; and attaching solder balls to the contact pad that are adapted to electrically and mechanically couple the electrical interconnect to the PCB.
 14. The method of claim 13 comprising printing at least one dielectric layer on the first surface of the socket substrate to mechanically supporting the contact tabs.
 15. The method of claim 13 comprising depositing conductive plating along surfaces of the openings to electrically couple the contact tabs to the contact pads on the second surface of the substrate.
 16. The method of claim 13 comprising forming at least one additional circuitry plane in the socket substrate, the additional circuitry plane selected from one of a ground plane, a power plane, an electrical connection to other circuit members, a dielectric layer, or a flexible circuit.
 17. The method of claim 13 comprising depositing at least one discrete contact member in a plurality of the openings in the socket substrate, wherein the contact member comprises a spring arm adapted to flex outward during insertion of the solder balls on the BGA device into the openings.
 18. The method of claim 17 comprising forming the openings to permit the contact members to flex to facilitate inserting the solder balls on the BGA device into the openings.
 19. The method of claim 13 comprising the steps of: printing at least one electrical device on the socket substrate; and electrically coupling the electrical device to at least a one of the contact tabs, wherein the electrical device is selected from one of shielding, near device decoupling, capacitors, transistors, resistors, filters, signal or power altering and enhancing devices, memory devices, embedded IC devices, RF antennae, and the like.
 20. The method of making an interconnect assembly the steps of: locating the electrical interconnect of claim 13 in a housing; inserting solder balls on a BGA device in the openings in the socket substrate to electrically couple the solder balls with contact tips of the contact tabs; and soldering a PCB to the contact pads located at the second surface of the socket substrate. 